After Sessions, who will Trump dump next?

President Donald Trump has said privately he wants to dismiss Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for her alleged weakness on border security. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have been the first Trump Cabinet-level member purged in the wake of the midterm elections — but he is unlikely to be the last.

Several Trump Cabinet officials and senior aides are on the ropes and could be pushed out by the end of the year in a dramatic shuffle that could reshape the character of his administration — but create new political headaches for the president.

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Those officials include Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, whom Trump has said privately he wants to dismiss for her alleged weakness on border security. Trump has talked about replacing Nielsen with Kris Kobach, a right-wing immigration hawk who lost his bid for governor of Kansas governorship on Tuesday — though he has privately acknowledged Kobach would struggle to win Senate confirmation. Another name that’s recently been discussed for the job: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime friend and ally of the president’s.

Also newly vulnerable is Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, whose ethics have been the subject of an inspector general investigation. Trump acknowledged during a Wednesday post-election news conference, which he attempted to frame as a victory lap after his party lost control of the House of Representatives, that he is “looking at” the allegations against him. We’ll probably have an idea about that in about a week” he said. In the past, Trump has privately called Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who rode a horse named Tonto to his 2017 swearing-in ceremony, one of his favorite Cabinet members.

In weighing the fates of officials like Nielsen and Zinke, Trump will be torn between his desire to dump people he dislikes or considers unhelpful and the optics of mass firings and potentially ugly Senate confirmation fights, according to several White House aides and Trump allies.

There’s also the problem of recruiting replacements. “Everybody wants to work in this White House,” Trump said at the news conference. “This is a hot White House.” In fact, Trump has often struggled to find job candidates, a problem that could grow worse now that House Democrats will be subjecting Trump officials to vigorous investigations.

That tension animated internal White House debates about the departure of Sessions, who, after enduring months of presidential abuse, said in a letter to Trump that he was resigning at the president’s “request.” As late as Wednesday morning, Sessions was unaware of Trump’s plans to replace him with his chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, who will serve as an “acting” attorney general who does not need Senate confirmation. The ability to avoid a potentially bloody Senate confirmation battle was a key factor in Whitaker’s selection, White House aides said. Trump is considering naming a permanent replacement, such as Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who has already been confirmed by the Senate.

Another vacancy already on Trump’s plate: the post of Ambassador to the United Nations, which will be vacant after Nikki Haley leaves at the end of the year. The current front-runner, according to a senior administration official, is Heather Nauert, a former Fox News host turned State Department spokeswoman whom Trump last week called “excellent” and said was “under serious consideration.”

But Nauert’s supporters and detractors alike have raised questions about her experience, and whether she could win confirmation even in a friendly GOP Senate. Nauert is also not national security adviser John Bolton’s first choice for the job, but rose to front-runner status after Trump’s first choice, former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, took herself out of the running. Trump said last week that he would “probably make a decision” on the post by the end of this week.

Another internal candidate for advancement is trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who, according to someone familiar with the discussions, is being floated as a potential replacement for Trump’s 87-year-old Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross. Trump has called Ross “past his prime.”

Trump downplayed talk of a shakeup on Wednesday. “A lot of administrations make changes after midterms,” he Trump said. “I will say that for the most part, I’m very happy with this Cabinet.”

One of the biggest open questions involves the fate of Defense Secretary James Mattis, whom Trump recently described as “sort of a Democrat.” Trump subsequently affirmed his support for the retired Marine Corps general, but not before throwing a cloud over his military chief that has Pentagon officials prepared for Mattis’ departure.

At the same time, Trump has privately acknowledged the limits of his power to make changes. Much as he did with Sessions, Trump has long considered Nielsen disloyal — thanks in part to her service in the George W. Bush administration. Trump allies also view the two as a package deal, assuming that if White House chief of staff John Kelly is fired or quits Nielsen will follow suit.

But Trump has told aides he knows Kobach would face an uphill confirmation battle, and that dismissing one of just three female members of his Cabinet would look bad in the wake of an election where Republicans struggled with female voters.

The gender factor is one reason he has expressed interest in Florida’s Bondi, a longtime ally, and why he likes the idea of sending Nauert to the U.N.

Then there is the perennial question of Kelly, about whom Trump has complained for months.

Before the midterms, administration officials said they expected Kelly to leave by the end of the year. At an election night watch party at the White House, where televisions showed four cable networks on a screen divided into quadrants, the chief of staff notably spent the evening across the room from his boss and had zero visible interaction with the president, the first lady, or members of the Trump family, according to someone in the room. But his long chilly relationship with the president hasn’t changed recently, said a former official — noting that Kelly could leave tomorrow or in 12 months, as has been the case almost since he started the job.

Asked on Wednesday about Kelly’s future, Trump was decidedly noncommittal.

“I haven’t heard about John Kelly,” Trump said at the news conference. “People leave.”

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